Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, due to increasing concerns about security, in the use of an image processing apparatus, such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral, installed in an office, there is a demand for providing functions of the image processing apparatus only to persons who are permitted to use the image processing apparatus, by user authentication.
Further, due to growing environmental consciousness, there is an increasing demand for reduction of the amount of power consumed by the image processing apparatus when it is in a non-operating state.
To meet such the demand, there has been proposed a technique for supplying power less than usual to a main controller which controls the image processing apparatus or shutting off the power supply to the main controller, when the image processing apparatus is in the non-operating state, to thereby realize a power saving mode in which power consumption of the image processing apparatus is reduced.
While reduction of power consumption is demanded as above, to perform the above-mentioned user authentication, it is necessary to continue to supply power to components that operate for authentication processing. That is, it is envisaged to continue power supply to the components required to operate for user authentication but shut off power supply to the other components which are not related to the authentication processing to thereby reduce power consumption of the image processing apparatus while making it possible to perform user authentication.
In relation to such techniques, there has been disclosed a technique which enables, when requested to perform user authentication by the user e.g. with an IC card, an image processing apparatus operating in the power saving mode to perform user authentication and further return to a normal power mode when the user has been authenticated (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-288971).
However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-288971, the authentication processing is carried out in the power saving mode in which the image processing apparatus continues power supply to the components operating for authentication processing, and hence the reduction of power consumption is not necessarily achieved with high efficiency.
This is because it is necessary to enable a storage area that stores account information of users also in the power saving mode, and further perform processing for verifying the user against the account information, and hence an amount of power consumed by the components for authentication processing is not small.
Further, there is generally a system that performs authentication processing using an external server connected to the image processing apparatus via a network. However, to perform authentication using the server, the image processing apparatus is required to perform communication with the server while remaining in the power saving mode, which naturally increases power consumption.
To cope with this, it is desirable to start supplying power to the components operating for authentication processing, after the image processing apparatus has returned from the power saving mode to the normal power mode according to the user's instruction, to thereby immediately enable the image processing apparatus to perform user authentication.
In general, the image processing apparatus is autonomously shifted to the power saving mode without making the user conscious of the shift, and hence it is difficult for the user to determine whether the image processing apparatus is waiting in the power saving mode or in the normal power mode.
When the user performs user authentication using e.g. an IC card as an authentication medium, in a state where the user is unaware that the image processing apparatus is in the power saving mode, the image processing apparatus neither returns from the power saving mode to the normal power mode nor performs user authentication processing.
Therefore, the user is required to perform an operation for returning the image processing apparatus from the power saving mode, and then perform user authentication using e.g. an IC card again, which is inconvenient for the user.